Rambus validates DDR4 for Arm-based data centers

Rambus validated the interoperability of its DDR4 PHY and the Arm CoreLink DMC-620 Dynamic Memory Controller, which is a fast, single-port Coherent Hub Interface (CHI) for transferring data from its CoreLink CMN-600 (Coherent Mesh Network) to the Rambus DDR4 memory PHY. Together, these IP blocks offer speeds of up to 3200 Mbps, the highest performance memory speed available on the market. Both are DFI 4.0 compliant, allowing the PHY and memory controller to interoperate.

“Design teams face complex challenges in scaling the number of computing cores for advanced datacenter SoCs, while minimizing integration and testing time to ensure faster time-to-market,” said Jeff Defilippi, senior product manager, Infrastructure Business Unit, Arm. “Our collaboration with Rambus removes another degree of difficulty in designing purpose-built SoCs, resulting in higher-performing systems built for the most demanding cloud and enterprise workloads.”

https://www.rambus.com/

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Finisar's Flextune simplifies Remote PHY deployments for MSOs

Finisar introduced a new hardware-configurable feature for wavelength-tunable optical transceivers that is designed to simplify the deployment of Remote PHY access networks constructed by Multiple System Operators (MSOs). The Finisar Flextune feature allows up to 96 wavelength-tunable optical transceivers in a Remote PHY network to self-configure their wavelengths to operate over the DWDM infrastructure without input from the host equipment nor intervention from technicians. The feature will be supported on Finisar's 10 Gb/s wavelength-tunable duplex and dual-band bidirectional (BiDi) transceivers.

Finisar described a simplified configuration process for MSOs: technicians insert the universal transceivers into any host port in the headend equipment and remote PHY nodes, and connect them to any of the optical multiplexer ports with fiber optic patch cables. Firmware contained in the transceivers determines the proper wavelengths to link the headend equipment to each Remote
PHY node.

"Wavelength-tunable optical transceivers with the Flextune enhancement significantly reduce operational expenditure for MSOs when deploying Remote PHY networks," stated Shawn M. Esser, Director of Product Management at Finisar. "Cable operators only need to stock one universal wavelength-tunable transceiver compared to stocking many different fixedwavelength
modules. Flextune capability reduces configuration time of the transceivers for a link from hours to minutes. In addition, it simplifies installations because technicians do not have to trace fibers from the optical multiplexer to the Remote PHY nodes, which could be a distance of 2km or longer."

Finisar's recently-launched, tunable dual-band BiDi SFP+ transceiver, which supports this new Flextune feature, fits a pair of wavelengths into each port of standard 100GHz DWDM multiplexers and de-multiplexers, enabling 80 wavelengths to be deployed over existing 40-wavelength DWDM networks, increasing the data capacity from 200 Gb/s to 400 Gb/s in each direction over a single fiber without replacing the entire infrastructure. Because it only has one optical connection for the pair of wavelengths, the BiDi transceiver also reduces the number of fiber optic patch cables by a factor of two, simplifying installation and saving space.

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Quantenna samples first full-duplex 802.11ax mesh chipset

Quantenna Communications began sampling the first chipset for 802.11ax mesh repeater networks based on the newest Wi-Fi specification. The chipset combines three 4x4 802.11ax radios and integrated CPU cores for optimal mesh repeating functionality and full-duplex operation, which avoids interfering with a home gateway by using a different radio frequency. Embedded CPUs provide full Access Point (AP) and bridging functionality.

“Quantenna is very excited to expand its presence in the mesh repeater market with our QSR10R-AX chipset,” said Lionel Bonnot, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Quantenna. “With the continuing increase of the number of clients and Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the home, mesh networks must work flawlessly to ensure a truly reliable and high-performance network. We believe the QSR10R-AX is the ideal solution to fulfill this demand.”

Quantenna QSR10R-AX chipset solution key features:

• Two 4x4 5GHz 802.11ax radios
• One 4x4 2.4GHz 802.11ax radio
• Embedded CPUs for on-chip 802.11ax Access Point and Bridging support
• 2.4GHz PTA interface to co-exist with external IoT radios
• RGMII port for GbE connection
• Quantenna’s SONiQ mesh software for client roaming, channel steering and AP load balancing

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NTT develops a cooperative WLAN with distributed smart antenna

NTT has developed a technology its calling “cooperative wireless LAN with distributed smart antenna system (D-SAS)” to improve connectivity in high-density environments such as sports stadiums.

The technology consists of two key functions: one performs centralized radio resource management by taking information about the surrounding radio environment into consideration; the second optimizes parameters dynamically with the aid of the first function so that the interference is reduced at each AP.

NTT has tested the technology at NACK5 stadium in Omiya, Japan with the deployment of about 150 APs under stadium seats. All 11 channels available on the 5.47-5.725 GHz band (i.e., the W56 band) were used and the channel bandwidths of all APs were 20 MHz in both settings.

NTT said its testing showed that its cooperative wireless LAN technology with D-SAS achieved throughput twice than that obtained with the conventional technology.

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